We'd Catch The Rainbow, Ride The Wind

Shinjiro Otani/El Samurai VS Black Tiger II/Dean Malenko - NJPW 9/24/1993

CJD: Huge shout out to the guys over at Segunda Caida for unearthing this fan cam on their Found Footage Fridays. Holy guacamole, you want to talk about white whales. This match speaks to our teenage tape trading fandom moby dick days. This was a dream come true. Now my bff, I'm warning you right away. There's some moments we miss out on, given the nature of how this was filmed. And there's some missed moments that are really heart breaking. I'm sorry in advance. But just remind yourself: we could so so easily live in a timeline where this match was lost to the sands of time. Yet here we are. I'm so glad this niche of a niche hobby brought me to this moment in time.

I'll say a few things about the actual match. After watching an all out war with Murakami where there was some filthy alley fighting legwork, it was fun to travel back to this heated technical clinic where Otani's still taking and giving and stuffing nasty leg picks and holds. And, god almighty, I love the energy that was in this arena. This crowd knew then what we know now. It's special that we got to bear witness to these kind of performers practicing their craft at this level with this kind of platform. I'm so glad you sent us on an Otani Odyssey!!!

JJZ: This match is a dream come true man. Like if we were booking a dream card from this era I would've booked this match. The fact it's a fan cam with a few hiccups makes it even more of a unicorn in my opinion. Hearing the crowd from this point of view is so cool and adds a little ambiance. Chris. Just watching all these guys hit their moves is like comfort food. I'm getting so much happiness from it. Watching this is reminding me why we hold these guys in such high regard.  It is funny though, because if we watched this match back in the day I wonder if we would have appreciated it. We were so knee deep in matches of these four back then. Finding something like this now though I know I don't take it for granted. Thank you my friend.

The Moonlight Coming

Shinjiro Otani VS Kazunari Murakami - Zero One 6/14/2001

JJZ: I'm pretty positive we've watched this together many many moons ago. I honestly just wanted to see some Otani. Shinjiro could be such a fucking prick that I knew this would be such a fun match to review. Both guys just throwing kicks and punches with bad intentions. Everything landing so hard that I would've believed for real some got knocked out. Just a wonderful stiff fight that I wouldn't disagree with anyone if they told me it was a shoot. I can't remember if they had a rematch or not? I would assume this built to a huge blow off but I couldn't find anything on YouTube. You followed this fued pretty close no?

CJD: They've had a bunch of matches I'm pretty sure! We watched some from years later, I don't think I've seen this one before though 😍

So if I'm not mistaken this is a rematch from a barnburner these two had on the very first Z1 show. That match gets talked about as an all-timer but in true PIF spirit, I think you've uncovered a real gem here John. This is such a beautiful spectacle. I love love loved Otani casually stepping on Murakami's leg and refusing to get off. And I'm loving this early Zero 1 kick we're on, I'd keep exploring these shows for months if they were easy to find online. This vision of pro wrestling speaks to me. I watched every minute of the post match promo having no idea what was being said. And not needing to.

Forever Forward Fridays

Mike Santana (c) VS Penta El Zero Miedo - HOG World Championship 3/2/2024

JJZ: So, while watching this match I got such strong ECW vibes. The energy from the crowd lead to Penta and Santana kinda wrestling to just pop the crowd with every spot. Which they did very well. No real psychology other than giving the paying customer what they wanted. Santana is an interesting wrestler. He doesn't look like he'd be as athletic as he is. I would assume a New Jack style from him but dude can go. Penta is always a treat to watch. My guy has such charisma in the ring. Not gonna lie I wasn't crazy about the finish but I left this match more satisfied than disappointed.

CJD: These two did a great job making this match and the promotion feel big. I'll agree with you on Santana and take it one step further, I never imagined he could be The Guy like he is in this match. But he is every bit the HOG Ace with a capital A here, you buy in completely and so do these fans. I know I'm in the minority but I'm not a big Penta fan. The one area I can't knock him is in that X factor, and this match brought that. This was highly entertaining, and for me the finish and post match was kind of a pleasant surprise. It felt like late 90s tv, maybe a little bit of an ECW vibe like you said. A little out of control and takes you on a ride. Everyone played their part really well and the crowd was rabid. I thought this was a great pick even if the match had aspects that left us both wanting. Not always a bad thing! Very curious where I want to go with Zero Miedo.

Forever Forward Fridays

Shelton Benjamin VS Mike Santana - Prestige Wrestling 7/12/2024

CJD: I wasn't sure if I was going to play this one forward. There's some awkward moments and I wish Prestige didn't telegraph that the finish of their uploads is just about to happen. I like everything else about their production, and I know it's for music rights. But still!! This match won out for me though because it had a really fun energy. In some ways it reminded me of a  2002 ROH undercard. Random pairings you don't know what to expect from that hit at least a couple of really memorable highlight kinda moments. And get you genuinely invested by the end to see who wins and how. So basically good bread and butter indies wrestling. Steaming hot rolls with a nice warm cup of soup on a crisp October morning. You get what I'm laying down JJZ?? I'm very tired this morning but I enjoyed this match with my thermos of coffee as a little pick me up and I think you'll enjoy it too.

JJZ: Man you are right. I could totally picture this at the Murphy Rec Center. Definitely a little clumpy at times but entertaining as fuck. The crowd wasn't packed but I got the feeling from them that they appreciated the effort Santana and Benjamin put forth. They did a good job of building to the big pop moments. Showing off good fundamental wrestling early. I've been a fan of Mike Santana since seeing him in AEW. Feel like be he always over performed when I didn't expect him to. Nice little yin and yang over these last couple matches.

I Keep Trying To Find A Better Way

Mitsuhara Misawa/Takeshi Rikio VS Naoya Ogawa/Kazunari Murakami - Zero One 4/18/2001

CJD: Sending this one over on your birthday my BFF and cofounder of PIF. This match is all ambiance with a little bit of extra spice and sizzle in the execution we do get. You and I were just talking shop about how early NOAH and Z1 was such a time and place in wrestling history, such a different vibe for the puro scene. It seemed like they might be onto something huge, but regardless of how it all played out, I love going back and revisiting this stuff. I could watch a 10 disc Best of NOAH/Zero 1 Max Crossovers comp. Does that exist? That really should exist. I feel like I should say more about this match. Our current MDTSOCWWKD Champ, Rikio, brings the heat once again!! And I swear we've featured the most random collection of Misawa matches PIF over the years for a legitimate GOAT candidate. Happy birthday my friend!

JJZ: Can't believe I'm gonna say this but these two PIF matches have really changed my opinion of Rikio. This match starts guns blazing with some of the meanest potatoes I've ever seen to Rikios body and head. I thought he was just gonna be getting the shit kicked out of him this match but hot damn I was wrong. He flipped the switch and started shooting right back. Let's call this match what it was CJD. It was a fight. Everyone laying it the fuck in. No one really selling til the finish. Which was so goddamn stiff. Yeah we need so many comps of this feud. This is a must watch match.

You Light My Morning Sky With Burning Love

Kenta Kobashi (c) VS Takeshi Rikio - NOAH GHC Heavyweight Championship 3/6/2004

JJZ: SPOILER ALERT. Just getting it out of the way but I can't rightfully review this match without spoiling the finish.

I wanna say that I bet this pick suprises you but I don't know if it would. I had so many options. I watched so many matches. I went with this match because I kept thinking about it days after I watched it.  Mainly because I thought it was the match that Rikio ended Kobashi's incredible GHC title reign. It wasn't. I've never seen that match before and I figured now is as good as a time as any. So when Kobashi repeatedly chopped and slapped the piss out of Rikio and then what can only be called a bicep punch to the face, got the three count I was like, Fuck. So Rikio challenged for the Global Crown twice. I'm sure I knew that at one time but I didn't know that when I watched this match. Kobashi made Rikio look like a goddamn star in this match. Don't get me wrong, Kobashi made Rikio earn everything but Rikio really looked like a guy who could have a successful title run that would help NOAH. That didn't happen. But for 27 minutes Kenta Kobashi and Takeshi Rikio put on a world title match that would make any wrestling fan fall in love with the sport just a little more.

CJD: As you said, everything about this match felt like Rikio's coming out party. A guy who's been punching that clock and packing that lunchbox for years and years finally gets his moment where he's the main character of everyone's story. Only, he never really was, but he sure as hell put in the performance that felt like it. He WORKED for this match. Kobashi played off him much more than the other way around, which surprised me. I'd also never seen this before despite watching most of Kobashi's reign. And other than the legwork, which was fine but not really what I wanted at that moment, there was nothing more or less I wanted from this match. I think this show also drew a huge crowd which makes sense in the rise and fall of the story of the Rikio experiment. It was probably more a result of Kobashi lighting the world on fire than the fans clamoring for Takeshi Rikio, but let's give the often forgotten half of Wild II his flowers. He took a hellacious beating in this match and made us all believe, at least for that one night, "should he be the guy??"

Forever Forward Fridays

Shelton Benjamin (c) VS MVP - WWE United States Championship 3/20/2009

JJZ: Babycakes. Finding an MVP match was so much harder than I thought it would be. The options were so few which kinda shocked me. I know WWE is not FFF material but highlighting Benjamin and MVP is totally worth playing a WWE match forward. This is definitely a shotgun of a match with high energy and a hot crowd. Both Shelton and MVP have insane athleticism and going at a frantic pace even for a short amount of time showcased that. I was impressed that they were able to get me with a couple falsies. Just a fun little watch homie.

CJD: The Hurt Business Implodes!!! I almost played a Shelton/Masters match forward to you weeks back, so I'm glad the Gold Standard is still getting his due. This match really brought it. They laid that shit in, but also showed nice restraint trying to get the most out of each moment. There were a few times where they could have brought the crowd up a little more but they kept it going to a steady climax in a short amount of time. JR and Taz is an odd couple duo but they did a good job getting this one over. I expected to like this one a lot, and it still exceeded my expectations. If you've got 10 minutes to burn and want to watch two guys lay it all out in a championship clash, this match is your huckleberry.

Super Generation Army Meets Takayamamania

Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi VS Jun Akiyama/Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/16/2000

CJD: So this isn't my Kikuchi white whale I alluded to. And you want to know the damndest thing John? I saw it out on the internet seas. But that's the thing about white whales, isn't it? Sometimes you'd rather know they're out there waiting for you than actually catch them. I decided I wanted a different flavor of Kikuchi, and there's nothing quite like year one NOAH. File this under matches we might've seen before. But how the hell am I not going to play this forward?? This had me riveted. All four guys brought such a great dynamic. This is a match that sets the table more than it feasts, but I am so so okay with that. And I know you have time to sink your teeth into a main course with whatever you play back! This match made me think of you through and through my friend.

JJZ: Oh baby are you hitting me right in the heart with this one. I could watch early NOAH all day! I'm assuming this is building to the 12/23/2000 singles match between Akiyama and Kobashi. Just wanna say that Takayama's German to Kikuchi was RIDICULOUS. I'll totally agree this match was all about setting the table and they did it so fucking well. Something often missing from modern puro. The energy and excitement coming from the crowd of the new born promotion was felt through the screen. It is really impressive that even though Kikuchi is so under sized in this match he honestly makes the biggest impression. They way he puts his whole body into every movement makes him so easy to cheer for. Kobashi is the greatest of all time. Takayama is the standard for Japanese hoss wrestlers. And Akiyama. I don't know if he will ever be truly appreciated considering the shadows he had to come out from under. This match was wonderful.

Forever Forward Fridays

MVP VS Chris Masters - WWE RAW 7/27/2009

CJD: I've always had a soft spot for MVP, even before he became an elder statesman of pro wrestling counter culture. This match is even more simple than your Masters studio match, and one of the shortest we've ever featured. It has a bonus match snuck onto the end, with Kofi Kingston VS Brian Kendrick that's worth a watch as well! Masters and Montel are such giant men that everything they do here looks impressive. The booking was different and effective if a little anti climactic. We were just talking to each other about how we aren't always watching matches for the blog for their overall quality, and this is a good example. This is just an interesting piece of wrestling for a few reasons. And I'm looking forward to more Atonio Banks from you!

JJZ: Love the cameo by JTG after the match. That finish was soooo good. Really clever. So this was definitely simple but it was supposed to be simple. The  wrestling wasn't the star of the match it was the ambiance. Masters coming back, the ticking clock on the titantron. Knowing that there might not be  an actual pinfall or submission to end the match. Also loved the yoked up meat head using his brain to get the job done. 👍

RIP Jaka

The pro wrestling world lost another wrestler far too young. Jaka has passed away at 39 years old. The GoFundMe his brother had posted while he was in the ICU is still active and his family will certainly need support through this awful time.

Donate Here

Through the years here at PiF we only shared one Jaka match, but it's one of my favorites we've ever featured. It captures so many elements of what I love about pro wrestling. I'm going to watch it again this week and seek out more of Jaka's work in his memory. RIP to a talented man gone way too soon.

Homicide/Eddie Kingston VS Doom Patrol - Beyond Wrestling 11/25/2018